I lost my big, gorgeous angelfish, Gulliver, today.

He (or she - I never knew) was four years old, and his body was as big as my palm.

About two weeks ago he developed problems swimming - though neurologically he seemed
fine he couldn't orient himself in the water. I think it was something commonly referred to
as "swim bladder disease" - very hard to watch, and difficult to treat. I tried peas
(for possible constipation/blockage), but he couldn't really
eat them, even mashed up fine with food. Went through a couple of dosings
of a couple kinds of medicine to treat for possible fungus or bacteria, that ended a few days ago.

He was still incredibly strong, but starting to slow down - I noticed a change four days ago,
and another decrease two days ago. I actually tried to aspirate the swim bladder earlier
in the day, which was the "last ditch" marker I'd set in my mind. I was hoping for a miracle, but
when he came out of the anesthesia there was no change. He tolerated the procedure great and came out
of it just fine. But either I'd not done it properly (there are
no anatomical charts for freshwater angelfish that I could find online),
or the problem was something more systemic. Afterwards, in a last-last ditch effort, I called around to several
aquatic specialty stores and local pet stores for other possible options and advice, and I decided
the options that were left were long shots at best, and would only make him suffer longer.
He'd basically not eaten in nearly two weeks.

It was hard because other than the swimming problem, he looked gorgeous as ever.

This is an article I came across some time ago: How to Humanely Euthanize a Fish
I've never had to deal with a fish as big as Gulliver, but just about everything worked as laid out in the article.
As far as I was able tell, he wasn't distressed, and I sure hope he didn't suffer. It didn't seem like
it, but then fish can't talk, so I don't know.

When the weather breaks this spring and the snow is gone, I think I will bury him under the
Cornelian Cherry tree in our back yard.
In spring it blooms gold.

I've had him almost since I started up the aquarium. I'm sure going to miss seeing him.

Update 7/9/16 - finally buried him today, when planting a beautiful pair of
Scarlett O'Hara pieris japonica in the back yard. I'm sorry it took
this long, but I hope the plants will flourish, and I will think of him whenever
I see them.